Crude Collagenase vs. DE Collagenase

Price of DE Collagenase is comparable to equivalent products manufactured by Worthington or Sigma.

% Collagenase + Protease is the mass of bacterial enzymes (collagenase + protease) as a percentage of bacterial protein in the product. Crude collagenase is a lyophilized Clostridium histolyticum culture supernatant, all the protein in product is derived from bacteria. DE Collagenase is prepared by processing the culture supernatant to create enriched collagenase which is mixed with purified BP Protease and a polypeptide excipient. The excipient protects enzyme activity during storage and enables the user to weigh out the product prior to use (https://www.vitacyte.com/news/setting-a-new-paradigm-for-low-cost-collagenase/).

Protease Activity is a critical enzyme activity that directly effects success of the cell isolation procedure (https://www.vitacyte.com/news/does-collagenase-truly-deserve-top-billing-as-the-key-enzyme-for-isolating-primary-cells/): it’s activity is uncontrolled in crude collagenase whereas a fixed mount of purified BP Protease is added to each DE Collagenase product.

Evaluation is the initial work performed before using the collagenase product for routine use. Once the optimal dose is set for a DE Collagenase product the same conditions can be used for any new lot of the purchased product.

Ease of Sterile Filtration is lot dependent for crude collagenase whereas DE Collagenase readily passes through a 0.22 μm filter.

Performance & Confidence assesses the reliability of the product to generate results that can be repeated by others or within a laboratory over years. High confidence is achieved only when collagenase products are manufactured consistently.

Lifetime Costs are higher for crude collagenase since each new lot is usually screened before use. By contrast, once the optimal conditions are set with DE Collagenase, lot screening is avoided. The dose of product used in the initial evaluation can be used in subsequent isolations.